Sceptics of Iran nuclear deal ‘all proven wrong’: Hassan Rouhani

Shortly afterward, the three left for a US military base in Germany, arriving there later yesterday, a US State Department official said.

Three of the freed Americans were to leave Iran on a plane operated by the Swiss, who had helped broker the prisoner talks and who represent U.S. interests in Tehran, where there is no U.S. Embassy.

“It reflects a pattern we’ve seen in the Obama administration over and over again of negotiating with terrorists and making deals and trades that endanger United States safety and security”, Texas senator Ted Cruz, a leading Republican presidential contender, said on Fox News Sunday.

Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian says he had extraordinarily limited human interaction and spent 49 days in solitary confinement during his 18 months in an Iranian prison.

Four American-Iranians have also been freed in a prisoner swap as part of the deal.

However, hours after the release of Americans, the Obama administration also announced new sanctions on Sunday on individuals and 11 entities involved in Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.

On Monday following the lifting of worldwide sanctions over its nuclear program Iran announced a major boost in oil production by 500000 barrels a day.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said, “there were many skeptics who said Iran would never deliver on its side of the bargain”, but that Mr. Rouhani’s government had done so. The prisoners are expected to arrive in the U.S. Sunday.

Rouhani, a moderate whose 2013 election victory helped launch a huge diplomatic effort toward the deal struck on July 14 in Vienna, said the implementation was a crucial moment for his country.

In exchange for the American prisoners’ freedom, Washington pardoned or commuted the sentences of an Iranian and six dual citizens of the United States and Iran in what President Barack Obama called a “one-time gesture”.

Fahimeh Lotfi, a housewife and mother of two, said: “No more will we to go to bed every night while worrying about the worsening situation”.

“This is all so surreal and we’re just soaking it all in right now”, Hekmati said, adding his release had come as a surprise.

“The U.S. sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile program… have no legal or moral legitimacy”, he said.

In his first public remarks since global sanctions were lifted following a United Nations report that Iran had fully complied in scaling back its nuclear program, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran should “exercise care the other party implements its commitments”.

With the sanctions announcement, Obama also sought to counter criticism from GOP lawmakers and presidential candidates that his actions had appeased a nation that has aided the spread of Islamic extremism.

Washington Post publisher Frederick Ryan said: “We are relieved that this 545-day nightmare for Jason and his family is finally over”.

Rezaian said he spent most of his time in the custody of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard – the military force tied to hardline religious leaders.